ITR Filing AY 2022-23: What if you missed the ITR?

Missed ITR 2022-23 deadline? Under section 234F of the IT Act, a late filing will be imposed on taxpayers after the due date, July 31, 2022. How many penalties should you pay?

The income tax return filing deadline for the Assessment year 2022-23 and Financial year 2021-22 ended on July 31. The central government already implied that the deadline would not be extended for filing income tax this year. Read if you have missed the ITR filing AY 2022-23.


According to the Income Tax Department, more than 5.5 crore ITRs were filed by July 31, 8 pm for Financial Year 2021-22. The last date to file ITR was yesterday, and whoever has failed will face a penalty from Today, August 1. A fine of up to Rs 5000 on delayed ITR filing will be imposed till December 31, 2022. To state clearly, July 31 was the last date to file ITR of Assessment Year 2022-23 for salaried employees and Hindu Undivided Families (HUF) whose accounts should not be audited.


Some taxpayers and professionals hoped for a last-minute miracle that didn't happen, as the Government denied extending the last date of filing ITR. It should be mentioned that a taxpayer would not be able to carry forward any losses for the current year, if have already missed the July 31 deadline. Thus, any loss incurred under the business income or capital gains or loss beyond Rs 2 lakhs under the house property, cannot be carried forward to the later year.


What is carrying forward the loss?


In simple words, carrying forward is a condition or a provision that allows taxpayers to move a tax loss to future years to offset a gain or profit. This tax loss carried forward can be claimed by the professional or a business for reduced future tax payments.


For instance, Agricultural income is tax-exempted. Thus, if a taxpayer suffers a loss due to agricultural activity, such loss cannot be applied against other taxable income. The Indian Income tax law allows some benefits to taxpayers for sustaining losses.


Tax return filing is mandatory in case the business wants to carry forward this loss and tax offset with future income. Besides, one can avail of this option if ITR is filed within the due date.


How many penalties should you pay?


Under section 234F of the IT Act, a late filing will be imposed on taxpayers after the due date, July 31, 2022. A penalty of Rs 5000 is levied if the returns are filed on or before December 31, 2022, and the penalty can extend to Rs 10,000 in other cases. Nevertheless, the fee payable will not exceed Rs 1,000 if the total income of the person is below Rs 5 lakhs.


The basic exemption limit is a gross annual income of Rs 2.5 lakhs for people below 60 years, while the exemption limit is Rs 3 lakhs for people above 60 years but below 80 years of age. For people above 80 years of age, the exemption limit is Rs 5 lakhs.


Also, a taxpayer is liable to pay simple interest at 1% per month or a part of a month, if he or she has delayed in filing the Income tax return.